Intimate Partner Homicide in California, 1987-2000 (ICPSR 3501)

Since 1976, the United States has witnessed a steady and
precipitous decline in intimate partner homicides. This study builds
on the work of Dugan et al. (1999, 2000) and Browne and Williams
(1989) by examining, in greater detail, the relationship between
intimate partner homicide and gender, race, criminal justice system
response, and domestic violence services. Specifically, the study
examines the net effect of criminal justice system response and
federally-funded domestic violence shelters on victimization of white,
African American, and Hispanic males and females. This study used
aggregated data from the 58 counties in California from 1987 to
2000. Homicide data were gathered by the State of California
Department of Justice, Criminal Justice Statistics Center. Data on
domestic violence resources were obtained from the Governor's Office
of Criminal Justice Planning, Domestic Violence Branch, in the form of
detailed reports from domestic violence shelters in the state. Based
on these records, the researchers computed the number of
federally-funded shelter-based organizations in a given county over
time. Data on criminal justice responses at the county level were
gathered from the State of California Department of Justice, Criminal
Justice Statistics Center. These data included domestic violence
arrests and any convictions and incarceration that followed those
arrests. The researchers disaggregated these criminal justice system
measures by race and gender. In order to account for population
differences and changes over time, rates were computed per 100,000
adults (age 18 and older).

Since 1976, the United States has witnessed a steady and
precipitous decline in intimate partner homicides. This study builds
on the work of Dugan et al. (1999, 2000) and Browne and Williams
(1989) by examining, in greater detail, the relationship between
intimate partner homicide and gender, race, criminal justice system
response, and domestic violence services. Specifically, the study
examines the net effect of criminal justice system response and
federally-funded domestic violence shelters on victimization of white,
African American, and Hispanic males and females. This study used
aggregated data from the 58 counties in California from 1987 to
2000. Homicide data were gathered by the State of California
Department of Justice, Criminal Justice Statistics Center. Data on
domestic violence resources were obtained from the Governor's Office
of Criminal Justice Planning, Domestic Violence Branch, in the form of
detailed reports from domestic violence shelters in the state. Based
on these records, the researchers computed the number of
federally-funded shelter-based organizations in a given county over
time. Data on criminal justice responses at the county level were
gathered from the State of California Department of Justice, Criminal
Justice Statistics Center. These data included domestic violence
arrests and any convictions and incarceration that followed those
arrests. The researchers disaggregated these criminal justice system
measures by race and gender. In order to account for population
differences and changes over time, rates were computed per 100,000
adults (age 18 and older).

Access Notes

The public-use data files in this collection are available for access by the general public.
Access does not require affiliation with an ICPSR member institution.

Methodology

Study Purpose:
Since 1976, the United States has witnessed a
steady and precipitous decline in intimate partner homicides. At first
glance, the trend appears to signal success brought about by two
decades of criminal justice policy improvement and domestic violence
resource enhancement. However, much work and scientific analysis
remain to be done. This study builds on the work of Dugan et
al. (1999, 2000) and Browne and Williams (1989) by examining, in
greater detail, the relationship between intimate partner homicide and
gender, race, criminal justice system response, and domestic violence
services. Specifically, the study examines the net effect of criminal
justice system response and federally-funded domestic violence
shelters on victimization of white, African American, and Hispanic
males and females. This study is unique in its focus on rural and
urban settings and Hispanic victims.

Study Design:
This study used aggregated data from the 58
counties in California from 1987 to 2000. Focusing on California
permitted the researchers to obtain reliable and standardized data for
a large number of counties featuring diversity in population, in rural
and urban characteristics, and with a variety of domestic violence
criminal justice responses and shelter resources. Homicide data were
gathered by the State of California Department of Justice, Criminal
Justice Statistics Center. These data provided detailed information on
homicides committed in California from 1987 to 2000, such as whether
the victim and offender were intimate partners, the county of the
homicide, whether the offenders and victims were adults, and the race
and gender of victims and offenders. Data on domestic violence
resources were obtained from the Governor's Office of Criminal Justice
Planning, Domestic Violence Branch, in the form of detailed reports
from domestic violence shelters in the state. Because only recent data
(starting in 1997) were available in machine-readable format, the
researchers used the hardcopy reports from the individual
shelter-based service providers in the state. State records indicated
the number of years federal funding was provided to each community
organization. Based on these records, the researchers computed the
number of federally-funded shelter-based organizations in a given
county over time. Data on criminal justice responses at the county
level were gathered from the State of California Department of
Justice, Criminal Justice Statistics Center. Arrests for violation of
California penal code 273.5 were classified as domestic violence
arrests. Data were gathered on any convictions and incarceration that
followed an arrest for domestic violence. Incarcerations included
prison sentences, jail sentences, and sentences to probation that
included some jail time. The researchers disaggregated these criminal
justice system measures by race and gender. In order to account for
population differences and changes over time, rates were computed per
100,000 adults (age 18 and older).

Data Source:

Data on homicides were obtained from the State of
California Department of Justice, Criminal Justice Statistics
Center. Data on domestic violence resources were obtained from the
Governor's Office of Criminal Justice Planning, Domestic Violence
Branch. Data on criminal justice response were gathered from the State
of California Department of Justice, Criminal Justice Statistics
Center.

Extent of Processing: ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of
disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major
statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to
these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection:

Download Statistics

This website is funded through Inter-agency agreements through the Bureau of
Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention of
the Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Neither the U.S. Department of Justice nor any of its
components operate, control, are responsible for, or necessarily endorse, this website (including, without limitation,
its content, technical infrastructure, and policies, and any services or tools provided).